Monday, December 17, 2018

{9.17.18 - 9.23.18}

These beauties got to celebrate their *FIFTH* birthday this week! 
Matthew's parents and a couple of his sisters were able to come down and celebrate with us! I think they felt pretty darn special!  
Lyla is so sassy! (Send help!) //I can't get over how big my girls are looking these days. When did they grow out of that baby stage into such pretty little girls!? 
I talked the girls into letting me make them a cookie cake and a brownie cake...they seem to turn out better for me than actual cake most of the time...so Alya wanted a little mouse cookie and Lyla wanted a pretty butterfly brownie! I was pretty happy with how they turned out! 
The girls then got to have a sleepover at their aunt's house for a bit. They always have so much fun with their aunts!  
The boys and I went up the mountain to move the camp trailer for Grandpa's elk hunt!  
This little guy was just so content to be in the mountains! // Donuts - breakfast of champions! (And look at those curls!!!!)
I sure love these boys of mine!!! Also, I cut Axel's hair this week! I tried to leave some of his curls that I love so much, but it was time for it to be somewhat tame! I definitely didn't do a great job, but I think it could be worse! Haha!
My mom bought this crazy finger unicorn at a little toy store near her house...but there were no rules saying it had to be on your fingers... 
Matthew and Grandpa with his beautiful bull! 
Oh this was so funny!! Axel did not like this mask!

Thursday, December 13, 2018

.five years old.

To celebrate the girls’ birthday I thought it would be fun to finally record some things that they have said over the last couple of years. They are smart, intuitive, funny, entertaining, etc. So I hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
One of my favorite things the girls both say is “I amen’t” when what they mean to say is I’m not. I can’t bring myself to correct them because I think it’s just the best!
They also used to say “that’s why” instead of “that’s because.” 
 
Lyla:
Lyla had an imaginary friend that lived in the girls’ closet. His name was Bonus and they told me he was made out of bones. He sounded slightly terrifying to me, but they said he was nice! Ha!
She likes to tell us stories about all the things she did on her own as a baby, such as:
Hiked all the way to Idaho and a fox kept her warm in its den.
Canoed all by herself.
Caught a baby rattlesnake.
Crawled all the way to a huge volcano!!
Tried to catch a bluebird so she could play with.

Dad: Have you been up here before? (Near Capital Reef)
Girls: no.
Dad: Not even when you were a baby in the middle of the night?
Alya: No, I stayed in bed all night.
Lyla: Yeah, when I was a baby I got out of bed and came up here.
Alya: did you drive?
Lyla: Yeah I just steered and then I got the hang of it.
Dad: What do you want to be when you grow up?
Lyla: A horse.
Mom: Lyla, go wake up Alya.
Lyla: I can’t.
Mom: Why?
Lyla: She will just scream at me.
Matthew was trying to start the gas fireplace when the power went out one night. The girls were watching when Lyla said “he doesn’t know what he’s doin.”
Lyla: *thrashing and grunting in her sleep* No I didn’t!!
*I woke her up enough to get her back on her pillow so her face wasn’t squished into her bedpost*
Lyla: I didn’t ask for water to be splashed in my eyes!
Mom: I’m sorry, I won’t do it again, okay?
Lyla: Otay
Lyla: after applying chapstick “Lookin pretty good there, amen’t I!”
Lyla (to Alya who was making some weird, random noises) “You’re kind of seakin (freaking) me out a little bit.”
Lyla had been asking me to draw pictures for her to paint. They have mostly been “My Little Pony.” She finished the ones I had already drawn and asked “Mom, can I have Rainbow Dash now?”
Me: Not right now, sis.
Lyla: Why?
Me: Cause I’m doing dinner, I can’t draw right now.
Lyla. Okay, goodbye then.
Lyla: Good job on those cookies, mom!
Me: If you had waited just three minutes she would have been done climbing the stairs.
Lyla: But I’m not a bery dood waiter!
Lyla found and picked some Indian Paintbrush and loves the idea of the Indians using them for paint. “The Indians squished the Indian brush and used it as paint and they painted their faces!”
“I’m all cheerio-d!!” *Showing me the crumbs on her hands from the bag of cheerios she just finished.
Lyla called me to help her in the bathroom: “Mom, I’m all done. MOM I’M ALL DONE!!! MOM!!! MOM!!!”
Me: Lyla, you can’t expect me to be in here right as soon as you call me. It takes a second to walk in here!
Lyla: You should have runned!
Lyla: I drame that bear came in my room and rolled me out of bed and scratched me.
Alya: What color was he?
Lyla: White.
Alya: Did he have eyes?
Lyla: No! A white bear with no eyes rolled me out of my bed!
Lyla: Mom, can I have more bor…no. More bor…no. More bor…no. Bor…no. What is it called again?
Me: More Doritos?
Lyla: Yeah! Doritos!!
Lyla: Mom I just have something to tell you.
Me: I have something to tell you too!
Lyla: What?
Me: *whispers* I love you.
Lyla: I just don’t think anybody loves me.
(She might just be slightly dramatic.)
Jeni: You’re just working so hard. How do you handle it?
Lyla: I just handle it so easy!
Lyla: I drame about getting in a pool with bees and bumping into a frog!
Alya: I drame about…*whispers to Lyla:  Lyla, tell me!
Lyla: *whispers back to Alya: I don’t know!
Alya: Oh!
Lyla: Mom, you’re turning out to be the greatest!
Lyla: I love my sister.
Alya: I love you too, Lyla.
After multiple times of getting the girls mixed up one day Lyla had finally had enough.
Lyla: Ya know. We’re not the same!
Lyla: That’s too loud! My ears are sensible!
Me: Dad found some pretty cool rocks, huh!?
Lyla: Pretty cool? No. AWESOME!!
Lyla: Do you know how it makes me feel when you do this?
Alya: Happy?
Lyla: Yes.
Alya: I guess I did know!
Alya: I wish I was at your wedding.
Me: I bet you were watching from Heaven.
Lyla: I think I crawled there and looked over the edge of a cloud!
Me: Lyla, please don’t sniff in my ear, okay?
A short while later I sniffed a couple of times.
Lyla: Only you can sniff in your ears?
The girls each split a sugar cookie and an m&m cookie.
Alya: I almost fell in love with both of those!
Lyla: were your eyes going like this: *she then made little dreamy “in love” eyes*
Alya: When I grow up I’ll marry whoever I want.
Lyla: Like Axel?
Alya: No, I think when he’s older he’ll be a goober to me…I can’t marry my own brother!
Lyla: Why not? All husbands are kind of gooberish.
After working out in the yard spreading bark chips and helping to clean out the garden beds, Lyla came into the house and said “I was born to work hard with Dad like that!”
Lyla: *Singing* I’m illusive and I’m small…I am a bird…and I love to stay up in the sky…
Lyla: Mickey Mouse is a mouse. Mouses carry diseases.
Lyla’s first poem:
Puppy lost, puppy found.
Puppy running all around.
Lyla: (When Eli was crying one day) I can understand horses. Not babies.
Lyla: I wish I had a nicer mom and dad that didn’t send me to my room when I’m being mean or put me in time-out. And they would let me make the rules of the house.  


Alya:
While relaxing at a family reunion she asked someone, “Do you want to lay in the grass? I hear it feels really nice!”
Dad and the girls were looking at an Eye Spy book.
Dad: “I think these are the two turtle doves.”
Alya: “I can’t argue with that!”
We missed our exit on a round-a-bout so we made the loop.
Alya: (about half way through) “Why are we just driving around?”
Me: “Lyla’s asleep with her finger in her nose.”
Alya: “Oh! That’s why she’s not talking!”
Alya:”Mary rode a donkey”
Jeni: “And then what happened?”
Alya: “She hopped off!”
Me: “Do you want to come pick out your clothes or do you want me to?”
Alya: “Where are we going?”
(Is is sad that we only get dressed to leave the house?)
Alya was sent to her room one day and then I kind of forgot she was down there. She yelled up to me: “Mom? I’ve been down here for 7 minutes! Or like, a long time!”
Alya: “Jake (from Jake and the Neverland Pirates) says “Yo-Ho Let’s Go!” but I don’t know that word.
Me: “Why? Because you’re Izzy?”
Alya: “No, I’m Elsa!”
Me: “Oh! What does Elsa say?”
Alya: “She just sings songs and climbs up mountains. And builds castles. That’s what she do!”
We went to the zoo and when we got to the elephants the handlers were feeding them. It was kind of fun to watch!
Me: “What were the elephants doing when we saw them?”
Alya: “Poopin’!”
The girls and their aunts were having a discussion about saving their money one day.
Crystal: “Do you have money in your piggy banks?”
Alya: “Yeah!”
Crystal: “What are you saving for?”
Jeni: “College?”
Girls: “no.”
Crystal: “To go with me to Disneyland?”
Girls: “no.”
Alya: “To go to Walmart and buy stuff!”
Alya: “Mom, can you be the SipIt! girl?”
(Clearly the drink shop is one of my favorite stops!)
Alya likes to find something positive to say about everyone.
“I’m a bery dood driver!”
“Dogs are bery dood swimmers!”
“Mountain bobs (mountain lions) are sast runners!”
Alya:”What is that smell?”
Me: “I don’t know!”
Alya: “It’s Axel!”
Me: “No, he’s just wet. *Takes diaper off* Oh! He did poop!”
Alya: “See, I told ya he smelled.”
Me: “I didn’t know he pooped. I couldn’t smell him.”
Alya: “He smells awful!”
Me: “I have a feeling you’ll have to get used to that.”
Alya: “That why we need a baby girl. Not a Axel.”
Me: “No! I want to keep Axel!!”
Alya: “We will have to give Axel away so we can have a baby girl.”
Alya: “If I see something it’s my best friend.”
Jeni: “Ants? Bugs?”
Alya: “Yep!”
Jeni: “People?”
Alya: “Nope!”
Alya asked one day if we could go see if the gate at the swimming pool is open, but she wouldn’t believe me when I told her it wasn’t.
Me: “Okay. Why don’t you go see if it’s open?”
Alya: “But is it far away?”
Me: “Yes.”
Alya: “Then I’ll have to drive!”
Me: “Can you drive?”
Alya: “No…I know! You go buy me a horse real quick and then I could ride him to there!”
Me: “Dad’s birthday is in a week. What should we do for Dad’s birthday?”
Alya: “A stroller.”
Me: “You think we should get him a stroller?”
Alya: “Mm-hm.”
Me: “How come?”
Alya: “So he could take kids on a walk!”
Me: “What kids?”
Alya: “Kids like us!”
The girls telling each other about their dreams one morning:
Lyla: I drame that a bear came in my room and rolled me out of bed and scratched me.
Alya: What color was he?
Lyla: White.
Alya: Did he have eyes?
Lyla: No! A white bear with no eyes rolled me out of my bed!
Alya endearingly called me “mommy ma moo ma” one day!
Alya to Grandma: “I want you to sit on me and then we can hatch an egg!”
Me: “Come blow raspberries on your brother’s tummy.”
Alya: “no.”
Me: “How come?”
Alya: “Because there’s no blueberries in my mouth!”
Alya: “You scared the hickens out of me!”
Me: “How about some water?”
Alya: “No! I want juice!”
Me: “No, you haven’t had any water today. You need some water!”
Alya: “But I don’t want water.”
Lyla: “She’ll change her mind in a bit, mom!”
Alya climed into bed and her pant leg pulled up.
“Mom, will you fix my leg sleeve?”
I was teasing the girls one day about who was who.
Me: (To Alya) “I know!! You’re Lyla!”
Alya: “No!!”
Me: *Leaning in close to look at her face “Let me see.”
Alya: *Looking straight at me so that I can examine her face “I have nounder cheeks!”
Lyla was crying because she was struggling to put her Elsa dress on.
Alya: “I don’t wanna hear you crying!!!”
Lyla: “Then put my earmuffs on!!”

I wish I could remember who my mom and Alya were talking about during this conversation. It had to be a character from a show or a book.
Nana: “She went from needing more confidence to a show off!”
Alya: “No? She’s a girl!!”
While I was expecting Eli the girls liked to imagine him as a little girl doing little girl things.
Alya: “Maybe at night the baby was sleeping and she made a real live bed!”
On Nov. 3, 2017 (the girls had been four for about 3 months) Alya was telling her dad about how she took her bike over a big bump all by herself”…a long long time ago when I was four…”
Alya: I love you all the way up to the moon and back!
Lyla: I love you that much too.
Alya: No, the sun is higher. I love you all the way up to the sun and back!
Lyla: Do you know how it makes me feel when you do this?
Alya: Happy?
Lyla: Yes!
Alya: I guess I did know!
Alya: When I grow up I’ll marry whoever I want.
Lyla: Like Axel?
Alya: No, I think when he’s older he’ll be a goober to me…I can’t marry my own brother!!!
Lyla: Why not? All husbands are kind of gooberish.
Lyla: I don’t like kisses.
Alya: But when you marry someone, you’re gonna have to kiss him. *shrugs*
Alya: If somebody wants Eli, they’re gonna have to go through us!
Me: Axel, let’s go change your bum.
Alya: Sometimes when you say change your bum I think of you peeling his bum off and putting a new one on!
Me: I’d lose my head if it wasn’t attached!
Alya: Does that normally happen?
Alya: The T-Rex is the king of the dinosaurs!
Me: Why?
Alya: Because it can roar really loud. 

Thursday, November 29, 2018

{9.10.18 - 9.16.18}

I've seen people that live around here post pictures of their kids at the Keebler Tree but I strggled to find out where it was - even when I asked friends their response was that they could drive to it but they couldn't tell me how to get there. I was pretty excited when I finally found it online! So I took the kids and we loved it! They are looking forward to the cookies that the elves are going to leave for them next time! 


The girls raced ahead to finish our hike and they waited for me and the boys on these rocks. When I caught up to them they told me they were the Little Mermaid! 
Morning snuggles! 
We are growing a few giant pumpkins this year!  
I love, love, love how he holds onto me. He has a pretty amazing grip and it's just so sweet!! If I reach back when he's crying in his carseat or when I put him in his bed to go to sleep he instantly grabs onto me with his titan grip and I feel so bad when I have to pull away from him! 
My babies are {FIVE} How in the world did that happen!?
These girls are quite the roller coaster! Haha! They are the best of friends and they can fight like cats and dogs. They love to make up knock-knock jokes "knock knock? Who's there? Pumpkin! Pumpkin who? Pumpkin the tub, I'm drowning!" (The actually joke is Dwayne the tub, I'm dwowning!)
They love to draw and do puzzles and they can be great helps around the house. They love garbage day because their job is to put a new bag in the garbages! They also tell me a lot lately that they are bored, so I go through a list: have you done your school? You could do a puzzle. Go make your bed. Color. Play with blocks. When they don't want to do any of those things I suggest something like, dust the floorboards, or clean the doorknobs or vacuum your room and they are all about it!  
As often as they disagree they sure love each other and really look out for each other! If one of them is in trouble the other one really feels it!! It's pretty fun to watch their bond!
Alya is in the 50% for weight (41 lbs) and is in the 90% for height (3' 8.5"). She is a little social butterfly. She loves to be around people and can throw a tantrum like nobodies business. She is a little puzzle master! They were given a pattern puzzle game a couple of years ago and she is so good at it and could sit and work on it longer than she really likes to do anything else. She's already sick of school (Ha) but she is doing so good!  
Lyla is in the 50% for weight (40 lbs) and is in the 90% for height (3' 8.5"). She is a spit-fire!! She is very stubborn and likes to try to give me ultimatums..."I'll only eat my lunch if you get me some juice!" and she tells me things like "this is the last time I will eat these carrots in my soup!" She still get so attached to things and is still my little collector! She loves her Tooke (little pink deer stuffed animal) and lost it last year. She prayed almost every night that she would be able to find him so Matthew and I finally bought her a new one when we decided we weren't going to be able to find her old one. We hid it in our camp trailer so the next time we went camping the girls found it and Lyla was the happiest I think she has ever been! On the same note, while we were camping she found a bullet and thought it was the greatest thing! Unfortunately she lost it about two minutes later and was devastated!!!!! Her world was shattered! No matter how many times Matthew and I told her she'd probably find a new one she did not believe us! Ten minutes later, she found another one! Haha! She has some pretty crazy extremes! 
Evening walks are great! Axel has to be in front of the stroller and the girls are doing so well on their bikes! // Sometimes I look at my girls and wonder when they grew up, like when Lyla just goes bounding down the stairs or when she talks on the phone like this! Ha! She wasn't even using her hands for anything!   
These fires are crazy! My grandpa lives in Payson and sent me this picture from the fires in the canyon near his house. So sad, but so pretty!

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

{9.3.18 - 9.9.18}

9.4.18     This adorable little man is pretty spoiled! He still likes me to rock him to sleep but he has started to take random naps that last at least an hour. When I need to set him down I've started putting him in the pack-and-play so that his siblings can't get to him and he has seemed to like it. I think he likes that he can see what is going on, but he also really likes that he can't be touched! Ha! He is practicing sitting up on his own, but he's still pretty wobbly. He drools A LOT!!! and always seems to have his hands in his mouth. He likes to eat his toes but he only pulls his feet to his mouth during diaper changes when he doesn't have a diaper on, like the diaper makes it too hard for him to bend in half. He weighs 14.10 lbs (50%) and is 26.5 inches long (94%).
Oh how I love this brown-eyed boy!
 
Eli sitting in his safe place! He's sitting so well!! // Look how happy he is to be where the big kids can't reach him!  
Dad took us fishing this week and we found a snake!  
It's so fun for me to watch the girls when we are out doing things like hiking or fishing. I remember them being so little and needy and really looking forward to them being more independent. Well, here we are! They don't need me to hold their hands over all the rocks and twigs. I don't panic every time they get close to the water or when they wander away looking for rocks and seashells. Although I miss my babies, I love that they are getting bigger and I love that they enjoy being out in the mountains!
Axel is getting so big! But I am glad he still has some of his baby features like those pudgy little fingers! // Eli's fingers are his favorite chew toy. Everyone keeps asking me if he is getting teeth because he is always chewing on his fingers and the drool that comes out of his mouth is insane! He's not getting teeth (although I don't doubt that teeth are shifting around deep underneath his gums) he's just super slobbery!  
Axel insisted on wearing this shirt that my sister gave him. Daxton used to wear it and I think it's a size 5T. It has a gorilla head on the front and he loves it! He's still the cutest little fisherman I have ever seen!  
I think Axel is struggling a little with not being the baby anymore. He doesn't like that I don't hold him as much as I used to and it's hard for him to not be distracting while Eli is eating. I think he still likes to do a few baby things because it's a combination of wanting the attention Eli gets, all these "new" baby things are exciting, and he just loves Eli so much and wants to do everything he gets to do! 
Oh my goodness! I love that smile!  
Sometimes the kids play so well together! I love when the girls let Axel play with them! Alya makes a pretty good horsey! // I decided all the kids needed hats and I think they all look so darn cute!! 
I feel like I'm constantly telling Axel to be soft or to be nice to Eli. But I really do love that he likes to be close to him!

Tuesday, November 27, 2018

{8.27.18 - 9.2.18}

The girls have started the Upstart Preschool program! So far they are loving it and doing really well! // This boy is so handsome...especially when he smiles!  
Axel has graduated to a toddler bed this week! He still doesn't climb out of his crib but I'm ready to move Eli into a crib so I needed Axel out of it! He has transitioned so well! It makes me laugh, though because he still sits in his bed when he wakes up and waits for someone to come down to get him!  
I just love these beautiful girls! // I love that this is Lyla's "pretty smile." She sure makes me chuckle! 
It's been so fun to watch these three cruise around on their bikes!  The neighbor girls have been riding their bikes over and it has given the girls a whole new confidence on their own bikes just to watch Reagan and Bentley. 
They are even trying new tricks!  
Axel's little pony tail just kills me!  
His shirt says it all! He is such a MIGHTY CUTE LITTLE GUY! // He is getting pretty good at grabbing toys...and hair...and chunks of my skin! Haha! 
Matthew sent this beautiful picture of Fish Lake from one of his hunting trips! 
I love those tiny gigantic hands! And I love that whenever I hold him he holds onto me with such a strong grip! // I love this boy and I love his curls and I love his funny sense of humor! 
They couldn't be bothered to smile for a picture! Snacks are very important! // He loved his birthday hat! 
This kid cracks me up! Doesn't he look handsome in this sparkly birthday crown and those sparkly sandals!? // Eli will not roll onto his tummy but he likes to roll onto his side to look for whatever he can hear or reach for a toy...or the wet wipes...that are above him. 
The kids went on a little hike with Dad while I sat in the car and nursed Eli. As much as I would like to be out walking with them I love being able to just observe from a distance. My kids are just getting so big and I want to soak it all in!  
I love these goofballs!

I was trying to teach the kids how to go cross eyed.
Alya learned this song so fast! She likes to choose it for her bedtime lullaby when it's her turn to pick the song!

Monday, November 19, 2018

.two.

8.25.2018

Oh my sweet little man! I can't believe you are two! Time goes much to quickly! You are my little buddy and my comic relief! I'm so glad you are mine! I love that you love your mama and you like to snuggle with me before you fall asleep. You insist that we sing "Rock-a-bye Baby" "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Goodnight Sweetheart" in that order and I love it when you sing with me. You don't like white noise when you sleep but you love to sleep to the tune of "Rock-A-Bye Baby" on your noise machine. You keep biting holes in your binky so we have started clipping it down and there is almost nothing left of it.  
You love tractors and trucks and are so content to play alone when you are driving your trucks and tractors around the house or outside. You like to line them all up in a straight line and show me "lots of cars, Mama!" You crawl around pushing your trucks with endless energy and I wish I could keep up with you!  
You love to torment your sisters because you get such a rise out of them! It's kind of funny! You do love to play with your sisters, running up and down the hall with them pretending to be horses or wolves or birds or whatever else you guys can come up with. You have quite the personality! You like to tease us and have nicknamed your sisters Lyla Lou Poo and Alya Lou Poo. You love Eli so much and just want him to be able to play with you. I can't wait to see how much fun you two have together when he gets bigger!  
We took you to you well-child visit and you are 27.8 pounds and are 2 feet 11 inches. You are getting so big but I still feel like you are so small! I am in no hurry for you to grow up! 
I love you Axel!!! Thank you for choosing me to be your Mom! Thank you for being my little buddy! Always remember how much I love you!!

Happy Birthday Little Man!

Love, Mama